


Emil Västerström: Trans-Dimensional Traveler

by fairytal3catcher



Series: Emil Västerström: Trans-Dimensional Traveler [1]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: (canon typical though), AU in an AU?, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Plague, Cameos, Gen, Supermarkets, idea from a tumblr post - Freeform, liminal spaces, mild body horror, reality is really strange, strange stuff, super noodles, unreality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7801501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytal3catcher/pseuds/fairytal3catcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emil goes for a midnight run to the grocery store after an extremely busy day and finds out that things can get kinda weird in certain spaces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emil Västerström: Trans-Dimensional Traveler

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this tumblr post (http://methlick.tumblr.com/post/111469120297/grocery-stores-after-midnight-r-like-some-magical) and I was like, hey, why not take it too literally and turn it into an SSSS fanfiction? And so here we are. I hope you guys like it!

Emil’s day had been hectic. For starters, three exams.  Enough said on that one. After that, he missed the bus home and had to sit in the library for an extra hour, then he found out the bus line going out to his school was closed _entirely_ , and since no one he knew had a car, he had to walk. In the rain.  On the walk, he got sidetracked because some drunk woman decided to try to fight him (apparently it’s a crime to have nice hair?) and so he had to diffuse _that_ situation. To top it all off, when he got home, he had to study because at the end of the week, he had _another_ exam. And just when he thought it was over, when the clock struck twelve, his stomach decided it was going to try eating itself.

  
Because, _oh right_ , he hadn’t ate since before noon and there was no food in his apartment. Wonderful.

  
All the pizza places around his place closed at eleven, and there were ample places that closed well before then, too. So, it was either starve, or walk three blocks to the twenty-four hour grocery store nestled between two buildings that were four times its size. He opted for some fresh air, given his mind was swimming with all the things he was trying to remember. Throwing on his raincoat and some comfy shoes, he headed out, not even caring if he was looking as dead as he felt.  It was midnight in the middle of the week -- no one was alive unless they didn't have much to live for in the first place.

  
He plopped down the stairs, regretting all decisions he'd made that didn't involve groceries before midnight.  He sighed and opened the lobby doors, but when he got out on the streets, it was pouring harder than it had earlier. For a moment, he considered going back in and trading his shoes for some rain boots, but ultimately decided against it. With how hungry and tired he was, he didn’t feel like scaling all those stairs again until he had the groceries to show for it. He ran for the first half of the block, trying hard not to get too wet, but soon realized there wasn’t much point in it. Grimacing, he walked down the streets and listened to the sound of rain on his hood and felt the water soaking into his shoes.

  
It was some kind of surreal. There were few cars on the streets and for some moments, it really felt like he was the only one in the city. However, as he got closer to the grocery store, he saw more people and more cars, the blinking of traffic lights, and the sound of bars’ music up ahead. It took about six minutes to get to the store but it felt like twenty. Maybe he was stuck in some time warp or something. Or maybe he was dreaming. Who knew?

  
As he stepped into the store, everything was different from the outside world. There was the faint sound of rain outside and generic pop playing from somewhere he couldn’t see, along with bright lights that showed nothing of importance or interest. Just an empty store with one employee behind a register texting on their phone. He took off his hood and the cashier looked over at him, but he was hesitant to wave or say anything. The worker said nothing to him. They just stared. He nervously grabbed a hand basket and set off for some food to stock his fridge with, trying to ignore that strange person.

  
He quietly walked down to the bread aisle and picked up a loaf he could make sandwiches with, then to the aisle that housed deli meat. Everything was so quiet, and he felt so alone in that giant store. Some weird feeling passed over him that if anything were to happen, none of it would have consequence. He could cartwheel down the aisle, or knock all the cans of soup off the shelves in the next aisle, or sing along to MIKA when the opportunity arose. No one would notice, no one would care. Well, maybe. A more rational part of him decided all of that would be inappropriate, witnesses or no witnesses.

  
Emil walked down to the next aisle and saw a shadow pass by to his left, then looked up. Ah. Super noodles. He grabbed practically an armful of those and put them in the basket, nearly filling it up entirely. Oh well, less space for things he didn't need. He looked around and saw another blur pass by to the next aisle and shrugged. No one was there to judge him on the quantity of super noodles in his basket.

  
(Despite how strangely relaxed he felt, he was still ready to defend himself at any moment by saying that he was a college student, so judgement of how many super noodles he picked up was entirely unnecessary and unwelcome.)

  
With that, he had all of four more items left on his mental list of things to buy. Cereal, milk, frozen pizzas, and coffee. He set off toward those aisles, feeling almost like he was floating through the store.  Everything felt calm and utterly lonely, and it was inviting. As anticipated, the near-silent store playlist played a MIKA song and he started to quietly sing along, even though he didn’t know half the words. He turned the corner of an aisle and waited patiently for a woman speaking a language he had never heard before on the phone to move, who was staring intently at the coffee, seemingly unable to choose. In the time he waited off to the side, he could’ve sworn he’d sung the second verse of the song twice, maybe three times, but it didn’t register until he caught himself looping back to the chorus, at which point he stopped. Too weird. The woman finally picked one coffee and moved on after the song ended, continuing on in her strange language as she disappeared behind the end of the aisle.

  
He picked his usual coffee and started toward the cereal at the end of the aisle, but before he could, he slammed into a stranger and staggered. At first, he hardly noticed, but then he saw the guy on the floor and felt his heart start to race. “Oh god, I’m so sorry!” He quickly set the basket down and went to the guy’s side, offering his hand. The guy looked at him speculatively, ignored his offer, and then helped himself up.

  
“What are you doing here?” the guy asked, seemingly annoyed.

  
Emil looked him over before answering and decided he wasn’t threatening. ...Just weird. Dressed completely weird and unseasonably (was a fur pelt necessary? A light jacket was all that was really needed) and probably just over half of Emil’s weight, he couldn’t take him seriously. He looked almost like some kind of old timey shamen or something. Or maybe a twig. Probably a college student. “Can I help you?” he asked, trying to keep his confusion to himself. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

  
“I thought I was supposed to be the only one here.” The guy removed the fur hood from over his head and revealed his face. Emil’s heart fluttered. Man, he was _cute_. ...Even if he did look a little bit like a savage.

  
“It’s a grocery store. I mean, it’s almost one in the morning and all, but...”

  
“A _grocery_ _store_?”

  
Emil looked around. He was still standing by the shelf with coffee, now noticing that one of the bags had fallen to the floor. The air smelled faintly of hazelnut dark roast. He looked back up and into the guy’s eyes. “Um... Yeah? Are you alright?”

  
“I’m... fine.”

  
“Well, uh. ...Sorry for bumping into you and everything.” Despite wanting to keep talking to the attractive guy who was probably high after one hell of a party, the growling of his stomach reminded him that he was still on a mission. He carried on past the guy and picked up a box of cereal, not paying too much mind to the strange brands that he hadn’t ever heard of (and the ones he couldn’t even read—was that Cyrillic?).

  
Last two items. He made it to the frozen foods aisle and picked up three frozen pizzas as the lights flickered and dimmed. He turned around to head back to where the milk was and halted. His heart was stopping. What the hell was _that_? It looked almost like a person... but so... _wrong_. Its body was contorted in such unnatural ways, swelled and folded over on itself, and... Oh god. Its teeth were longer than his fingers and there were bones protruding from its disgusting form.  His breathing stopped as he watched this... _thing_ slink past, making strange noises and looking... just...

  
He blinked and it was gone entirely. The lights were bright and steady and the aisle was clear. He let out a shuddery breath and heard his heartbeat in his ears. Holy _shit_. Emil made a mental note to get as much sleep as he could that night, no more studying after he made some super noodles. That was by far the most horrifying hallucination he _ever_ could have thought up. The more he thought about it, he realized he really had been neglecting rest these last few days. It was finally catching up. That _had_ to be it.

  
Without wasting too much more time, he grabbed a carton of milk and placed it in the overstuffed hand basket, then shuffled over to the checkout so he could just go home. There was only one person in front of him in line, and the woman looked suspiciously like the wild redhead who had nearly assaulted him over his hair earlier that day. There was no chance at all that it was her... right? As if answering his question, she turned at an angle and he realized that yes, that was the same crazy woman with the same pointy nose and combative attitude. She was making the cashier look uneasy after suggesting they duke it out over the price of a bagel, but all was solved. A stoic, bulky looking man came out of a pitch-black room and changed the price of the piece of bread. He told her that maybe she should get that black eye looked at, then floated back off into the office.

  
Emil looked around the store and it still felt entirely empty, even though he’d seen at least three different people while he was there. It was quiet and serene, bright and vast, strange and inviting. The woman punched the cashier in the arm, telling the kid that he was a pretty cool dude after all, then walked out of the store. Thankfully, she didn’t look his way and want to start another fight.

  
He placed his basket on the belt and the employee stared at him as the basket slowly slid up to the scanner. It was creepy, but it didn’t bother him too much until half the basket had been placed into plastic bags. “So... do you like the night shift much?”

  
“It can get kind of weird, but it pays the bills.” The cashier looked away from him for the first time, probably, and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  
“Yeah... I bet. Like, I saw someone who didn’t even know they were in the store.”

  
The cashier hummed and continued to stare at him. Emil was uncomfortable, but stared back. If the kid wanted to play this game, then he could play back. And then it dawned on him why he felt so uneasy. The cashier was... real. Definitely a real person and everything. But his eyes.... they were so empty. It was as if he was staring right through Emil. He wondered for a second if he _was_ real. If maybe all of this had been a strange dream. He tore his eyes away. It was too weird.

  
“That’ll be twenty twenty-five,” the cashier told him, still looking into the space Emil may or may not have posessed.

  
He pulled the twenty from his wallet, then the change necessary and handed it to the cashier, who hardly even checked to see if the change was right. The receipt printed and he grabbed his bags, then hurried out of the store. The employee was by no means a creepy person—in fact, he was _also_ kind of cute, what with those freckles and all—but as he drew closer to the exit, the more that surreal tranquility gave into a some cloud of anxiety. He couldn’t explain it. With all he’d seen, it was almost like the very real, very human cashier was the creepiest. The ghostiest or the least natural or something like that.

  
The rain was still falling and he pulled his hood back over his head, then huffed. His shoes were wet from the last walk and he had to hike all the way home like that. This time, instead of taking his time to get to his destination, he kept a brisk pace. Everything felt so much more real out here, especially his hunger and exhaustion. As planned, when he got home, he made some super noodles and went right to sleep, trying not to think too hard of the nightmare fuel he’d hallucinated in the freezer aisle. After all, things like that weren’t real or anything. No need to worry about it.

It came as a surprise as he slept all through the night, and especially without any nightmares.  He didn't complain.

**Author's Note:**

> (I kind of want to turn this into a short series--I even have two more chapters written up for a continuation--but I don't know. I might do it anyway, but any opinions?)


End file.
